1
|
Verheijen I, Starkovich BM, Serangeli J, van Kolfschoten T, Conard NJ. Early evidence for bear exploitation during MIS 9 from the site of Schöningen 12 (Germany). J Hum Evol 2023; 177:103294. [PMID: 36566141 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Revised: 10/22/2022] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
A cutmarked bear metatarsal and phalanx from the German open-air sites of Schöningen 12 II-1 and 12 B, respectively, correlated with the interglacial optimum of MIS 9 (ca. 320 ka), provide early evidence for the exploitation of bear skins. Archaeological sites with evidence of bear exploitation from the Lower Paleolithic are rare, with only Boxgrove (United Kingdom) and Bilzingsleben (Germany) yielding cutmarked bear bones indicating skinning. We interpret these finds as evidence for bear hunting and primary access since bear skins are best extracted shortly after the animal's death. The very thin cutmarks found on the Schöningen specimens indicate delicate butchering and show similarities in butchery patterns to bears from other Paleolithic sites. The Eurasian Lower Paleolithic record does not show any evidence for the exploitation of bear meat; only Middle Paleolithic sites, such as Biache-Saint-Vaast (France; ca. 175 ka) and Taubach (Germany; ca. 120 ka), yield evidence for the exploitation of both skin and meat from bear carcasses. Bear skins have high insulating properties and might have played a role in the adaptations of Middle Pleistocene hominins to the cold and harsh winter conditions of Northwestern Europe.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ivo Verheijen
- University of Tübingen, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, Paläon 1, 38364 Schöningen, Germany; Forschungsmuseum Schöningen, Paläon 1, 38364 Schöningen, Germany.
| | - Britt M Starkovich
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstrasse 12, 72074 Tübingen, Germany; Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstrasse 12, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Jordi Serangeli
- University of Tübingen, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, Paläon 1, 38364 Schöningen, Germany
| | - Thijs van Kolfschoten
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands; Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, 72 Binhai Highway, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Nicholas J Conard
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstrasse 12, 72074 Tübingen, Germany; Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstrasse 12, 72074 Tübingen, Germany; Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Rawlinson A, Dale L, Ashton N, Bridgland D, White M. Flake tools in the European Lower Paleolithic: A case study from MIS 9 Britain. J Hum Evol 2022; 165:103153. [PMID: 35299090 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2021] [Revised: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Studies of flake tools in the British Lower Paleolithic are rare owing to lower quantities of flake tools than handaxes and the perception that flake tool technology became more important in the succeeding Middle Paleolithic. In Britain, and Europe more broadly, MIS 9 (328-301 ka) has been characterized as a period of technological transition owing to the presence of early prepared core technology and the status of the period as the final interglacial prior to the onset of the Middle Paleolithic. It has been argued that the period demonstrates an increase in both the numbers and importance of flake tools, possibly showing emerging Middle Paleolithic behaviors. This study presents the results of a technological examination of flake tools in Britain during MIS 9, focusing on 25 sites, including 15 assemblages previously recorded as having higher quantities of flake tools. We use these assemblages to assess whether the flake tools of MIS 9 represent a transition toward the technology of the Middle Paleolithic. We consider factors including collection history, site formation, function, reduction, and cultural groups. We argue that in Britain the archaeological record of MIS 9 does not show an increase in the use of flake tools and demonstrates more continuity than change in relation to earlier periods of the Lower Paleolithic. There is a technological background of ad hoc retouch of simple flake tools with occasional evidence of more invasively retouched scrapers. Furthermore, aside from the introduction of Levallois technology, flake tools change little in the Early Middle Paleolithic. These results are contextualized within the broader evidence from Europe and comparisons to the longer sequences at key sites. We conclude that the major changes in technology began between MIS 13 and MIS 11 and these merely became cemented during MIS 9 and the following Middle Paleolithic.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aaron Rawlinson
- Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK.
| | - Luke Dale
- Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Nick Ashton
- Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory, British Museum, London, UK
| | - David Bridgland
- Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Mark White
- Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Connections between the Levant and the Balkans in the late Middle Pleistocene: Archaeological findings from Velika and Mala Balanica Caves (Serbia). J Hum Evol 2022; 163:103138. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2021] [Revised: 12/16/2021] [Accepted: 12/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
|
4
|
Kuhn S, Moncel MH, Weinstein-Evron M, Zaidner Y. Introduction to special issue The Lower to Middle Paleolithic boundaries: Evolutionary threshold or continuum? J Hum Evol 2021; 159:103054. [PMID: 34418756 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Steven Kuhn
- School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0030, USA.
| | - Marie-Hélène Moncel
- UMR 7194 CNRS e Département Hommes et Environnement, Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, Paris, 75005, France
| | - Mina Weinstein-Evron
- Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 199 Aba-Hushi Avenue, Haifa, 3498838, Israel
| | - Yossi Zaidner
- Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, 91905, Israel
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Shimelmitz R, Groman-Yaroslavski I, Weinstein-Evron M, Rosenberg D. A Middle Pleistocene abrading tool from Tabun Cave, Israel: A search for the roots of abrading technology in human evolution. J Hum Evol 2020; 150:102909. [PMID: 33276308 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102909] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2020] [Revised: 10/27/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
During the reanalysis of the finds from Jelinek's and Ronen's excavations at Tabun Cave, Israel, we encountered a cobble bearing traces of mechanical alterations similar to those recorded on grinding tools. However, the artifact derives from the early layers of the Acheulo-Yabrudian complex of the late Lower Paleolithic (ca. 350 ka), a time with no evidence for grinding or abrasion. Accordingly, we sought to determine whether the traces on the artifact can be attributed to purposeful human action. We conducted a detailed use-wear analysis of the cobble and implemented an experimental program, gaining positive results for the hypothesis of purposeful human practice. We argue that the significance and novelty of early abrading technology is that it marks a new mode of raw material manipulation-one that is categorically different from other modes of tool use observed among earlier hominins or other primates and animals. Throughout the Early Pleistocene, use of stone tools was associated with vertical motions (battering, pounding, striking) or with the application of a thin or narrow working edge, leveled at cutting or scraping. Conversely, abrading consists in applying a wide working surface in a continuous sequence of horizontal motions, geared to modify or reduce the surfaces of a targeted material. The emergence of this technology joins additional behavioral changes recently identified and attributed to the Middle Pleistocene, illustrating the growing and diversifying capabilities of early hominins to harness technology to shape their environment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ron Shimelmitz
- Laboratory of Prehistoric Research, The Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave., Mount Carmel, Haifa, 3498838, Israel.
| | - Iris Groman-Yaroslavski
- The Use-Wear Analysis Laboratory, The Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave., Mount Carmel, Haifa, 3498838, Israel
| | - Mina Weinstein-Evron
- Laboratory of Prehistoric Research, The Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave., Mount Carmel, Haifa, 3498838, Israel
| | - Danny Rosenberg
- Laboratory for Ground Stone Tools Research, The Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 199 Abba Khousy Ave. Mount Carmel, Haifa, 3498898, Israel
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Lemorini C, Cristiani E, Cesaro S, Venditti F, Zupancich A, Gopher A. The use of ash at Late Lower Paleolithic Qesem Cave, Israel-An integrated study of use-wear and residue analysis. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0237502. [PMID: 32956377 PMCID: PMC7505473 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2020] [Accepted: 07/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Employing an integrated approach to investigate the use of Late Lower Paleolithic flint tools found at the site of Qesem Cave (Israel), we revealed a particular trace pattern related to the employment of ashes at the site. Using a designated collection of replica items and combining use-wear and residue (morphological analysis, FTIR, SEM-EDX) analyses, we revealed the intentional use of ashes in preserving foods for delayed consumption as well as hide for delayed processing. Our interpretation, we believe is the most plausible one since we were able to delineate the specific use-wear fingerprints of the intentional use of ashes for such purposes, suggesting that our approach might be useful for the recognition of other similar functional-behavioral patterns. Lastly, in support of previous findings at Qesem Cave, our current findings present evidence for the processing of organic matters intentionally mixed with ash, leading us to suggest that the inhabitants of Qesem Cave were proficient not only in the habitual use of fire but also of its main by-product, ash. Hence, we call for a reassessment of the timeline currently assigned to hominins' utilization of ash for storing and processing vegetal foods and hide.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- C. Lemorini
- LTFAPA Laboratory, Department of Classics, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
| | - E. Cristiani
- DANTE Laboratory, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
| | - S. Cesaro
- Scientific Methodologies Applied to Cultural Heritage (SMATCH), Rome, Italy
| | - F. Venditti
- LTFAPA Laboratory, Department of Classics, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
- Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - A. Zupancich
- DANTE Laboratory, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
| | - A. Gopher
- Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| |
Collapse
|